Camera IconPete Evans suggests those attending the event should leave their expectations at the door.Picture: Steve Brown Images

He’s one of Australian television’s most popular — and perhaps most controversial — chefs. Pete Evans attracts fascination and alarm in equal measure, whether it’s talking up the Paleo diet, pushing bone broth for babies, or posting to Instagram (and his 209,000 followers) photos of himself cuddling horses naked.

For his next move, the man synonymous with activated almonds is coming to Manjimup to cook, share his personal philosophies and meditate beneath the karri trees.

“It’s always a surprise what comes out of the frying pan, or the oven, or out of my mouth,” he says. “I plant the seeds when I’m up on stage about a different way of looking at life with a different perspective. I enjoy those moments.”

The blue-eyed personality with a wide smile, best known for his nine years fronting Channel 7’s My Kitchen Rules, will be the star attraction at June’s Truffle Kerfuffle. It’s a quirky coupling, pairing the lean, fit, health-loving chef with one of the world’s most decadent ingredients, most often shaved over creamy, cheesy pastas — something the grain-eschewing Paleo king wouldn’t exactly dive into.

“Offal and truffle is a sensational marriage,” he says, listing his favourite ways to savour the speciality. “Eggs and truffle, seafood and truffle, truffle and truffle.”

By Evans’ own admission, anything could happen at Truffle Kerfuffle as he heads up the event’s opening-night dinner, addresses 26 people in an intimate chef’s cabin masterclass, socialises over Sunday brunch and fronts an onstage cooking demonstration. He suggests those attending should leave their expectations at the door.

“My philosophy in life is to continually learn and share,” he says. “Generally when I do these things, people say, ‘That’s not what I expected, but thank you for speaking in truths’. I can only be me, so that’s what they get. I encourage people to come with an open mind, and I will also.”

For all the criticism Evans has copped over the past few years, most notably from health experts and the Australian Medical Association, he remains as upbeat as he is unrepentant.

The AMA suggested Netflix should pull Evans’ 2017 documentary, The Magic Pill, for its stories linking certain diets with positive changes to things such as autism, asthma and cancer. Other experts have strongly questioned whether the diets he champions — the Paleo, which favours meats, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables over highly processed foods, grains, dairy and legumes; and the high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet — are as beneficial to health as advocates claim. And a 2015 recipe book co-written by the father-of-two that suggested mothers could use bone broth as an alternative to baby formula was shelved and later released with an altered recipe.

Evans is reluctant to offer reasons as to why his ideas on consumption challenge established thinking so greatly.

“You’d have to ask the people who have those reactions,” he says. “I dare say there might be a connection to loss of revenue, or potential respect, or reputation, that may be the reason they have the reaction they do.”

Evans frequently claims that national guidelines on healthy eating may be at odds with our best interests. It’s something he’s keen to pursue, despite the attacks on his credibility.

“Should we not ask the question to get the right info?” he says.

“From my own personal experience of changing my diet away from the standard government dietary guidelines, my health has improved, and hundreds of thousands of others in Australia, millions maybe, have too. So if that’s the sort of false information that’s out there, what else is there that may not be right? Maybe everything else is true out there, but what if there are some grey areas? I’m happy to ask these questions.”

Despite the public furore and ridicule,Evans maintains the opinions of others don’t bother him. Nor does he pay them much attention.

“I get told sometimes about something that might’ve been written and it doesn’t affect me because it’s not part of my reality,” he says. “I’m a lot detached from where many people get their information and entertainment from.”

Camera IconPete Evans is adamant everything he does is driven by a quest for knowledge.Picture: Steve Brown Images

He is adamant everything he does is driven by a quest for knowledge, and he’s careful to present his views with qualifiers and disclaimers — something many of the stories about him fail to mention. “I never prescribe anything to anybody, except to have an open mind and a curiosity for this magical life that we all get to live,” he says. “What I do is my own personal journey. I don’t think it needs to be judged. I’ve never, ever received a message from anybody that has said, ‘Hey Pete, what you’re talking about has hurt me, or made my life harder, or I’ve become sicker because of what you’ve talked about’. Not one person in my whole existence.”

There’s a good chance Evans will delve into eyebrow-raising territory while in Manjimup. His latest passion project is investigating cannabis for medicinal use, with plans to make a documentary.

“I’m interviewing top doctors, scientists, patients, and the farmers growing it for medicine, and every day I’m gaining a broader insight of this one plant that seems to be very controversial,” he says. “If it does have the ability to improve people’s lives, I think it’s worth exploring. I don’t have an agenda for it. It’s a personal curiosity and I feel I can present it in a way that’s non-biased and ask the questions that need to be asked.”

In the meantime, Evans is looking forward to exploring the South West and expects to be inspired by fresh produce and towering trees — where he might host an impromptu meditation.

“The last class I did with people I got them to sit outside in the sun and take their shoes off and sit in silence,” he says. “If there’s trees there and truffles to hunt for, you never know, our shoes might come off and we might go for an exploration.”

Truffle Kerfuffle is on June 21-23 at Fonty’s Pool in Manjimup. Tickets available from trufflekerfuffle.com.au